VALERIAN PAMILT. 177 



Var. longifblia, the common one N. ; slender or low, with 1-ribbed leaves, 

 those of the stem varying from lance-oblong to linear. 



H. angustif61ia. Dry banks from 111. S. & W., with tufted erect stems, 

 narrow-linear and acute 1-ribbed leaves, crowded short-pedicelled flowers, lobes 

 of the white corolla densely bearded inside, and only the top of the ohovate pod 

 rising above the calyx. 



59. VALERIANACE^, VALERIAN FAMILY. 



Herbs, with opposite leaves, no stipules, calyx coherent with the 

 ovary, which has only one fertile one-ovuled cell but two abortive or 

 empty ones, and stamens always fewer than the lobes of the corolla 

 (1 -, 3, distinct), and inserted on its tube. Style slender: stigmas 

 1-3. Fruit small and dry, indehiscent ; the single hanging seed 

 with a large embryo and no albumen. Flowers small, in clusters 

 or cymes. 



• Lobes of the calyx many and slender, but hardly seen when in flower, being rolled 

 up inwards around the base of the corolla ; in fruit they unroll and appear 

 as long plumose bristles, resembling a pappus, like thistle-mum. 



1. VALERIANA. Corolla with narrow or funnel-form tube usually gibbous at 



the base on one side, but not spurred, its 5 spreading lobes almost equal. 

 Stamens 3. Akene 1-celled, the minute empty cells early disappearing. 

 Root strong-scented. 



2. CENTEANTHUS. Corolla as in the preceding, but with a spur at the base. 



Stamen only one. 



• • Lobes of the calyx of a few short teeth or mostly hardly any. 



3. FEDIA. Corolla funnel-form, with B equal or rather unequal spreading lobes. 



Stamens mostly 3. Akene-like fruit with one fertile and two empty cells, or 

 the latter confluent into one. 



1. VALERIANA, VALERIAN. (Name from valere, to he well, alluding 

 to medical properties, the peculiar-scented root of some species used in medi- 

 cine.) PI. early summer, often dioecious, white or purplish, y. 



» Garden species from Europe, producing the medicinal Valerian-root. 



V. officin^is, the commonest in gardens, 2° - 3° high, a little downy, with 

 leaves of 11 to 21 lanceolate or oblong cut-toothed leaflets, and rootstocks not 

 running. 



V. jPhu, Is smoother, with root-leaves simple, stem-leaves of 5 - 7 entire 

 leaflets or lobes, and rootstock horizontal. 



* * Wild species N. and chiefly W. : all rather rare or local. 



V. pauciflora. Woodlands, Penn. to Illinois and S. W. ; l°-2° high, 

 smooth, with thin ovate and heart-shaped toothed root-leaves, stem-leaves of 

 3-7 ovate leaflets, rather few flowers in the crowded panicled cyme, and long 

 slender coroUa. 



V. sylvdtica. Cedar swamps from Vermont W. & N. ; with root-leaves 

 mostly ovate or oblong and entire, stem-leaves with r> - 1 1 lance-oblong or ovate 

 almost entire leaflets ; corolla funnel-form. 



V. ^dulis. Alluvial ground from Ohio W. ; l°-4°high, with a large 

 spindle-shaped root (eaten by the Indians W.), thickish leaves mostly from the 

 root and minutely woolly on the edges, those of the root lanceolate or spatulate, 

 of the stem cut into 3-7 long and narrow divisions. 



2. CENTHANTHUS, SPURRED VALERIAN. (From Greek words 

 (or spur a.n&fiower.) Fl. summer. 11 



C. rtlber, Red S. or Jupitbe's-Beard. Cult, for ornament, from S. 

 Eu. : a very smooth rather glaucous herb, 1° - 2° high, with lance-ovate nearly 

 entire leaves, all the upper ones sessile, and cymes of small flowers in a narrow 

 panicle, the corolla very slender, i' long, red, rarely a white variety. 

 12 



